August 15th, 2013

Pedalboard and New Axe

Definitely had a lot go down over the last week so here goes!

I got a new pedalboard built by my father (shown below) and I am very excited to get it set up and going. I have vowed to quit using the on board reverb on my Deluxe Reverb, so the Boss DD-2 has taken over my reverb/delay needs. Also of note, my Pro Co Rat modded by Robert Keeley is available on eBay right now. Here's the listing: Keeley Modded Pro Co Rat

Another excursion and constant battle with jazz guitarist is dealing with feedback. Feedback never fails to rear it's ugly head at some point during a show where you need a lot of volume. The biggest problem seems to be drummers who play too loudly causing us to compete with their volume. Music is not about who is the loudest, but it always seems to come down to dynamics in a given performance; especially on stage volumes.

Since feedback can cause issues, guitarist started to switch over to semi-hollow guitars; namely a crop of NYC jazzers playing Gibson 335 styled instruments - Ben Monder, Adam Rogers, Bruce Saunders to name a few. Yesterday, I won an old Ibanez copy of a Gibson 335 (on eBay) and I am pretty excited about seeing it show up next week. The wiring is not functional right now, but I will rewire it after it shows up and hopefully I won't need new electronics too.

There's nothing wrong with my current rig. In fact if the Ibanez is not life changing I might turn around and sell it after I fix it. I love my Gibson ES-175D. It's like my child. I have played it exclusively since I got it last year - it is hard to put down! I have been interested in a semi-hollow for awhile, so I thought I would give it a shot. 

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Melissa and I played Zannotti's last week and it went well. She sounded really good, but we fought microphone feedback for awhile until I sorted it out. We are becoming relaxed musically together and our performances reflect it. We will be back at Zannotti's on Tuesday, September 24th at 8pm.

UCO starts up again on Monday. I am really not too worried about anything this semester. I have a lot to work on, and toward, since my recital will be sometime this semester. It's just another gig, but I feel like so many people take it too seriously. I just want to have fun and play some tunes with great players then go home. I have been thinking of a few tunes I would like to do, but I really do not even want to get that far into it. I do not have originals finished yet, so it will largely be standards, and I simply want to call tunes awhile and have fun. Needless to say it is a university, so it will not be that relaxed or simple, but I can dream right?

If you're interested in lessons please contact me soon! I have had a few students come and go this summer, particularly on Saturday, so I have a few available slots. My semester will be pretty well weighted down, so I am only taking a few students this go around.

If you read all of this you're a saint, and if you made it through most of it you're pretty cool too. Keep your eye out for another Listen Up special coming your way in a few days. I have been listening to Peter Bernstein's Monk disc lately so expect plenty on that album.

Keep listening! Thanks for reading!